Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FILM, n. [Sax. film. Qu. W. fylliaw, to shade or grow over, or It. velame, a vail, a film, L. velamen, or from L. pellis.]

A thin skin; a pellicle, as on the eye. In plants, it denotes the thin skin which separates the seeds in pods.

FILM, v.t.

To cover with a thin skin or pellicle. Shak.

FILM'I-NESS, n.

State of being filmy.

FILM'Y, a.

Composed of thin membranes or pellicles. Whose filmy cord should bind the struggling fly. Dryden.

FIL'TER, n. [Fr. filtre, feutre; Sp. filtro; It. feltro; properly felt, fulled wool, lana coacta, this being used for straining liquors.]

A strainer; a piece of woolen cloth; paper or other substance, through which liquors are passed for defecation. A filter may be made in the form of a hollow inverted cone, or by a twist of thread or yarn, being wetted and one end pot in the liquor and the other suffered to hang out below the surface of the liquor. Porous stone is often used as a filter.

FIL'TER, n. [See PHILTER.]

FIL'TER, v.i.

To percolate; to pass through a filter.

FIL'TER, v.t.

To purify or defecate liquor, by passing it through a filter, or causing it to pass through a porous substance that retains any feculent matter.

FIL'TER-ED, pp.

Strained; defecated by a filter.

FIL'TER-ING, ppr.

Straining; defecating.

FILTH, n. [Sax. fylth, from ful, fula, foul; D. vuilte. See Foul and Defile.]

1. Dirt; any foul matter; any thing that soils or defiles; waste matter; nastiness.
2. Corruption; pollution; any thing that sullies or defiles the moral character. To purify the soul from the dross and filth of sensual delights. Tillotson.

FILTH'I-LY, adv.

In a filthy manner; foully; grossly.

FILTH'I-NESS, n.

1. The state of being filthy.
2. Foulness; dirtiness; filth; nastiness. Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 2 Chron. xxix.
3. Corruption; pollution; defilement by sin; impurity. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor. vii.

FILTH'Y, a.

1. Dirty; foul; unclean; nasty.
2. Polluted; defiled by sinful practices; morally impure. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Rev. xxii.
3. Obtained by base and dishonest means; as, filthy lucre. Tit. i.

FIL'TRATE, v.t. [Sp. filtrar; It. filtrare; Fr. filtrer. See Filter.]

To filter; to defecate, as liquor, by straining or percolation.

FIL-TRA'TION, n.

The act or process of filtering; defecation by passing liquors through woolen cloth, brown paper, or other porous substance, as certain kinds of stone, which permit the liquor to pass, but retain the foreign matter.

FIM'BLE-HEMP, n. [Female-hemp.]

Light summer hemp that bears no seed. Mortimer.

FIM'BRI-ATE, a. [L. fimbria, a border or fringe.]

In botany, fringed; having the edge surrounded by hairs or bristles. Martyn.

FIM'BRI-ATE, v.t.

To hem; to fringe. Fuller.

FIM'BRI-A-TED, a.

In heraldry, ornamented as an ordinary, with a narrow border or hem of another tincture. Encyc.

FIM'BRI-A-TED, pp.

Hemmed; fringed.

FIM'BRI-A-TING, ppr.

Hemming; fringing.

FIN, n. [Sax. finn; D. vin; Sw. fena; Dan. finne; L. pinna or penna. The sense is probably a shoot, or it is from diminishing. See Fine. Class Bn.]

The fin of a fish consists of a membrane supported by rays, or little bony or cartilaginous ossicles. The fins of fish serve to keen their bodies upright, and to prevent wavering or vacillation. The fins, except the caudal, do not assist in progressive motion; the tail being the instrument of swimming.

FIN, v.t.

To carve or cut up a chub.

FIN-A-BLE, a. [See Fine.]

1. That admits a fine.
2. Subject to a fine or penalty; as, a finable person or offense.